Certain deaths of celebrities fade away. Some celebrity deaths quietly fade from public memory of the people because the facts always appear to be misplaced. In that case, the official announcements present us with a partial picture of the facts, and the cases which were never solved, the conflicting testimonies and the evidence which is forgotten make the mysteries still alive. Criminal cases are reintroduced, fresh witnesses brought out, fresh new evidence of enquiry devised – yet the cases never close. These are fifteen high profile cases with which the final chapter is yet to be written.
1. Natalie Wood
The actor who plays the lead role in the 1957 film, the West Side Story, drowned in the Santa Catalina Island in the year 1981 after she disappeared on a yacht boat with her husband Robert Wagner and the actor, Christopher Walken. In 2011, when a review of the case found bruising of an unexplainable nature the initial verdict of accidental drowning was overturned to that of drowning and other unknown causes. The case has remained open due to differences in time schedules, loopholes in the rescue operation and new forensic interrogatives.
2. Tupac Shakur
In Las Vegas, the rapper was shot in 1996 and he passed away six days later due to the injuries. The case lasted decades until it was solved as the witnesses were unable to cooperate. In 2023, an arrest was made, but the process was postponed in the court several times, the trial will be conducted in 2026. The prosecutors claim that the murder was an avenge on a fight that occurred the previous night and they never get a legal response.
3. The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher Wallace was shot dead in Los Angeles in 1997 shortly after he was at a music event. The case has entailed many witness interviews, ballistic investigation and implication of the federal government yet nothing has been pressed. The car of a shooter was not retrieved and the murder investigation is still in progress without conclusion.
4. Elizabeth Short
In Los Angeles, Short was mutilated and dubbed the Black Dahlia in 1947. Evidence of the murder scene had signaled that there was acting and perhaps medical skill. This Zodiac connection and the current theory is with suspect Marvin Margolis of her murder and the Zodiac killings that have been supported by cipher analysis and circumstantial evidence but denied by skeptics. The case remains unofficially unsolved.
5. Marilyn Monroe
Monroe died in 1962, presumably of a likely suicide attempt by poisoning with barbiturate and chloral hydrate. Despite that, phone records and the completeness of toxicology are still subject to doubt and this may have influenced the outcome of the work of the emergency. Another review was in agreement with the first ruling but observed some loopholes that are yet to be addressed that leaves a lot of speculation.
6. Brittany Murphy
In 2009, the actress died of pneumonia in 2009 due to anemia and some drugs. The independent review was done in the fear of her environmental conditions both in the country she lived in and the fact that her health was failing rapidly though the official excuse had not changed. The absence of new confirmed evidence has caused the authorities to reopen the case.
7. George Reeves
Superman had been portrayed by Reeves who had died of a bullet shot in 1959. A verdict of a suicidal case is put in the doldrums by disagreements in the testification of witnesses, weapon fingerprinting, and call schedule. Lack of physical evidence is an issue that cannot be retested in the contemporary times where there might be multiple meanings.
8. Bob Crane
The Hogan of Heroes star was also bludgeon killed in 1978. The blood analysis was developed leading to the prosecution of a case in the 90s which the accused was acquitted. The case remained in the limbo owing to contradicted expert testimony and absence of unquestionable forensic evidence.
9. Sam Cooke
The soul singer was shot at a Los Angeles motel in the year 1964. It was found to be justifiable homicide at an inquest conducted by a coroner but inconsistencies in witness evidence and gaps in evidence have brought it into question. Screams to rethink have not altered the formal decision.
10. Elliott Smith
In the year 2003, the singer-songwriter was killed because of stab wounds. The coroner was unable to determine the cause of death because there was no unquestionable evidence to prove either suicide or murder. There are no new results with the case still open and unsolved.
11. Thelma Todd
The carbon monoxide poisoning in her car killed Todd in 1935 that was deemed to be an accident. Theories of her movements on the night she disappeared and unanswered questions of how one could have got to the garage have guaranteed that speculation continues decades on.
12. Amelia Earhart
The great pilot vanished in 1937 at a time when he was flying around the world. Contending theories reveal that she crashed on Howland Island or landed on the atoll of Nikumaroro as a castaway. A number of search, including the planned ones have failed to establish concrete evidence on the fate of what happened to her.
13. Glenn Miller
The bandleader disappeared in the year 1944 when he flew to France in an unfavourable weather. There are theories that go so far as mechanical breakdown all the way to the dropping of an accidental bomb but there is not a single piece of evidence of a wreckage. He is still missing in action.
14. Jean Spangler
The actress vanished in 1949 having moved out. She had a cryptic message in her purse, one which she had come across in Griffith Park. Despite the conducted interviews and reported sightings, no body evidence and forensic evidence has been discovered and the case of the lost one remains open.
15. Thomas H. Ince
The producer of the film was assassinated in 1924 in a yacht. Officially described as factors of nature, the lack of full autopsy and the incongruent testimony of eyewitnesses have been replaced by close to a century of conjecture as to what actually took place.
